Packet based video is one of the fastest growing internet applications. At a high level, video streaming services, as well as any other similar streaming service with real-time near-deterministic and timely delivery requirements, employing Internet protocol (IP) can be classified into two categories: video over IP networks and video over the Internet. In the case of video over IP networks, video is delivered using dedicated IP networks. The availability of dedicated network allows the actuation of various admission control and traffic prioritization policies at the routers and switches to provide higher priority to video and other real-time traffic and, thereby protecting the more stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements of video.
Video over the Internet, on the other hand, uses public Internet infrastructures to deliver streaming video. This is also referred to as video-over-the-top and is growing rapidly. However, video over the Internet is carried just like any other data that is carried via hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) using transmission control protocol (TCP). As a result, an insufficient amount of bandwidth on various links may be available, thereby causing the QoS requirements of the video to not be met.